Behind the scenes at Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa), User Engagement Manager Dr. Kenneth Mubea is working closely with a range of DE Africa users across the continent, hosting regular and informative ‘live sessions’. These live sessions not only bring together like-minded movers and shakers in the African geospatial industry, they also guide users about how the DE Africa platform can be used to inform key decision-making.
Meet Dr. Kenneth Mubea
Footage supplied by Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data
Dr. Kenneth Mubea's role includes technical and user engagement support, driving usage of the DE Africa services and engaging with our network of partners across Africa. Based in Nairobi, he is critical to DE Africa's success in building an active community of users and building capability across the continent. Kenneth sees that in today’s world, Earth observation will be a critical means for decision making as industry and governments work towards the sustainable management of resources across countries and regional bodies in Africa.
About the Live Sessions
“The goal of the live sessions is to maintain engagement, receive feedback on products and services, share updates and connect users,” says Kenneth.
When it comes to live sessions, collaboration is key. By sharing insights, challenges and opportunities, users can work together, exchanging ideas about how the DE Africa platform can be used to tackle some of the continent's greatest challenges. This collaborative approach helps to build skills, relationships and momentum across the continent.
A perfect example of how the live sessions can bring users together is the collaboration between Stella Mutai and Stephen Korir. The pair were able to leverage the live session platform, joining forces to submit a proposal to the World Food Program Innovation Challenge. The proposal, ‘Application innovation for Mapping crop phenology key to addressing food security in Kenya,’ drew upon key insights from Stephen Korir’s use case, Mapping crop phenology key to addressing food security in Kenya, and Stella Mutai’s Intelligent Agriculture findings, which highlight how DE Africa data can support sustainable coffee production in Kenya.
Informing decision making on the ground in Africa
In recent sessions, Kenneth has highlighted the potential of DE Africa’s latest data service - GeoMAD, which has been making an impact since its release earlier in 2021.
“Users were amazed at the product. As a one of a kind service in Africa, GeoMAD will help address the various challenges our continent faces, such as food security, water, urbanisation, and natural resource management,” says Kenneth. He explains that live sessions have demonstrated the use of GeoMAD in action, as users share their experience using the data service.
“My experience with DE Africa has been amazing, it has challenged my line of thought and offered me new possibilities,”
says Khairiya Masoud who is working with the DE Africa Sandbox to produce use cases with her students at the University of Zanzibar.
Staying connected - DE Africa WhatsApp group
Highlighting just how passionate the DE Africa User Community is, the group stays connected through a WhatsApp chat, where questions are asked, experiences are shared and innovation is harnessed.
Looking ahead to future sessions, Digital Earth Africa hopes to increase engagement across the continent by encouraging involvement from a variety of Partners. DE Africa live sessions present the perfect opportunity for users to connect with like-minded individuals, educating each other on the power of Earth observation across Africa.
Want to learn more about DE Africa’s impact? Have a perspective that you want to share with the geospatial community in Africa? Join our Stakeholder Community Group to stay informed on live sessions and other exciting program news.